With the proliferation of e-commerce sites on the World Wide Web, a growing population of consumers purchases products online rather than in a store. Purchasing products online is different from purchasing products in a store for a number of reasons, including that the consumer purchasing a product online may be somewhat limited in what he/she can learn about the product prior to purchase from the information presented online. For example, the consumer may be able to read about the product, see pictures of the product, view reviews of the product submitted by other consumers, etc. However, the consumer may not be able fully appreciate certain aspects of the product, such as its aesthetics (e.g., how it looks from certain angles), size, color, texture, etc. Often, after ordering and receiving the product, a consumer may discover that the product is not what he or she expected, and may return the product. The somewhat limited ability of consumers to evaluate products online prior to purchase can result in higher rates at which some products are returned, as compared to in-store purchases.
An entity that sells products online may incur costs in processing returns from consumers. For example, the entity may be obligated to refund the purchase price, pay for shipping to and/or from the consumer's address, repackage the product, and/or restock the product. These costs may be decreased by decreasing the number of products returned by consumers.